Too True to Be Good: The Subculture of American Missionaries in Urban Africa

Abstract

During a year of sabbatical leave spent in Africa, the author frequently found himself in the presence of American missionaries in urban settings. As a social scientist interested in cultural behavior, he followed his inclination to look for persistent behavior patterns that were characteristic of the missionary groups with whom he came in contact. Taking “culture” to be the shared responses to human problems, he here identifies four pan human problem areas and describes adaptation he observed among missionaries for resolving them. Although his sample is necessarily limited both geographically and denominationally, the observations are provocative and serve as a reminder that the missionary is a product of, as well as an avowed changer of culture.